REVIEW: Death Suits You – A dark and sardonic look at Death and what motivates him

Sam Hooper as Death in Death Suits You

Venue: Theatro Technis, Camden

Performance Date: 20 August 2019

Star Rating: ★★★★

Traditionally death is a touchy subject; it’s a highly personal and sensitive topic that people awkwardly avoid at will, so putting on a show about death is always going to be a risk. However that is exactly what writer Sam Hooper has done and thanks to a razor sharp script and a mesmerising individual performance, Death Suits You is as genius as it is macabre.

Death (personified) has a bone to pick with humanity; he feels underappreciated, unloved and undervalued in his work. Its hard being Death, the responsibility, the patience and the skill needed to execute a person’s final moments cannot be underestimated, yet people try to avoid and resist him at every turn. Over the course of 55 minutes, Death takes us on a journey of some of his more memorable demises as he charts the creativity, imagination and commitment required to ensure that each and every one of us meet our maker as he intended.  

Death Suits You is fringe theatre at its finest. The piece brings together a blend of several styles, from prose, contemporary/expressive dance and rap to poetry and more traditional musical numbers. All serve as a vehicle to explore and recount a variety of different deaths. This show is a visual and auditory feast which is cleverly bought together in a tight 55 minutes that is gone in the blink of an eye.

First performed at the Melbourne International Cabaret Festival, Australian native Hooper has brought the show to Camden Fringe under the direction of Gabrielle Scawthorn. With an incredibly strong creative team behind it, including music by Jesus Christ Superstar lead Robert Tripolino, Death Suits You is a tongue-in-cheek yet brutally honest portrayal of the process of death.

Mesmerising to watch, Hooper plays Death with menacing dexterity; his movement at times is feline-like, never more so during the moments of expressive dance. It’s perhaps not a surprise then to learn that Hooper spent over two years as part of the international touring production of Cats. Hooper’s portrayal of Death is further personified by his highly literal fixation on his higher purpose, his voice at times bordering on the robotic as he lacks empathy or any acknowledgement that his presence might offend or strike fear.

Hooper is also somewhat of a triple threat, there are moments when his movement is beguiling and his fast dialogue is overtly impressive but he can also sing, and sing well. In fact, it is the moments where he does sing that are some of the strongest of the piece. Supported by a two-piece band of Joseph Cummings on the keys and Adam Davies on guitar, the arrangements are simple yet eerily effective with Tripolino’s acoustic style evident throughout.

Everybody has been touched by death at some point in their lives whether it be directly or indirectly. Producing a piece of theatre-making light of that could have backfired but somehow Death Suits You manages to push the boundaries without becoming offensive. Thanks to an incredibly clever script, peppered with just the right amount of black humour, the varied style of the piece allows the narrative to flow freely through its short duration. A thoroughly enjoyable and darkly compelling piece of theatre.

Death Suits You is playing at the Theatro Techica until Sunday 25 August (the final day of Camden Fringe) don’t risk dying of regret if you miss it.

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